News At Mercer (Alumni Edition) Cover

Medical Students Respond to Sugar Factory Disaster

Within minutes of the explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth on Feb. 7, students from Mercer University School of Medicine began springing into action. Several students were on call Thursday evening and immediately received “mass casualty” pages from Memorial Health University Medical Center, where three dozen Mercer medical students are completing their clinical studies. Others saw footage of the disaster on television and headed to the Emergency Room to see if they could help. “We were afraid we might just be in the way,” said Siri Raju, a fourth-year medical student from Richland who saw the news reports... [more]

Former House Speaker Gingrich to Address Executive Forum April 10

Former United States House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be the featured speaker at The Executive Forum of Mercer University presented by BB&T on Thursday, April 10. Gingrich will give a lunch presentation at noon in Atlanta at the Four Seasons Hotel, 75 Fourteenth Street, and a dinner presentation at 6:30 p.m. in Macon at the University Center on the Mercer campus. Gingrich is one of the world’s most well-known statesmen and a forward-thinking political leader. Chosen Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1995, Gingrich has written 14 books including: Contract with America, Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America, Rediscovering... [more]

Health Care Data Researcher to Give March 20 Van Greene Lectures

Gary A. Puckrein, Ph.D., a nationally recognized leader in collecting and organizing health care data on minority populations, will deliver the 2008 G. Van Greene Distinguished Lecture at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 20, on the Atlanta campus of Mercer University, 3001 Mercer University Drive. Puckrein will speak on “Building a 21st Century Health Care System.” The lecture is free and open to the public. Puckrein founded the National Minority Quality Forum, of which he serves as president and chief executive officer, in 1998. The goal of the not-for-profit organization is to strengthen the capacity of local communities to eliminate the... [more]

Registration Open for the Claypool Classic 5K Run/Walk

Runners and walkers of all ages are invited to participate in the Third Annual Claypool Classic 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, April 12, on Mercer University’s Cecil B. Day Campus, 3001 Mercer University Drive. The 5K course includes 2.1 miles on the road and 1 mile on a cross-country trail that is somewhat hilly. The run is part of the Run & See Georgia Grand Prix series. Registration will begin at 3 p.m., with the 5K run starting at 4 p.m. and the 1-mile fun walk kicking off at 4:30 p.m. Registration is $15 by March 31 and $20 starting April 1.... [more]

Pharmacy Alum Filmed by CNN for Allergy Segment

Tony Moye, owner of Moye's Pharmacy, spoke to a CNN for an upcoming segment on AccentHealth.

Tony Moye, a 1973 graduate of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and a member of the Mercer Board of Trustees, will be appearing in doctors’ offices across the nation this spring to talk about allergy medications. He was interviewed by CNN on Feb. 25 at his John Frank Ward Boulevard pharmacy location in McDonough for an upcoming segment on AccentHealth. [more]

Mercer Alumna Partridge’s Met Debut to be Broadcast in HD

Mercer alumna and rising opera star Leah Partridge, B.M. '97, is making her Metropolitan Opera debut this season as the First Niece in a new production of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes. Fans and friends will have the opportunity to see her live when the Saturday, March 15, matinee is broadcast in high definition to participating theaters around the country. In addition, the performance will be broadcast on participating radio stations.Visit www.operainfo.org for more information and to check local availability and ticketing. The performance will be featured in Georgia at the following cinemas: Galleria 10 Cinemas in the Galleria Mall, 2922 Watson Blvd., Centerville;... [more]

Slonaker’s Contract Not Renewed

Mercer Director of Athletics Bobby Pope has announced that the University will not renew the contract of head men’s basketball Coach Mark Slonaker. “I want to thank Mark for his 11 years of service to the Athletic Department,” said Pope. “He has been a great ambassador for the department as well as the University." Pope said the team would play at the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament in Nashville March 5-8 under the leadership of Coach Slonaker. The Bears finished the regular season with a conference record of 6-10 and an overall record of 11-18. They finished as the seventh seed among the eight conference teams who advanced to tournament... [more]

Nursing Research Conference Focuses on Patient Safety and Outcomes

"The Link Between Patient Safety and Patient Outcomes" will be addressed in the 2008 Nursing Research Conference, sponsored by The Center for Health and Learning, an educational partnership between Piedmont Healthcare and Mercer University. The conference is designed to enhance participant awareness of common patient safety issues and nursing interventions that promote positive patient outcomes. The conference will include lectures, interactive and panel discussions, and poster presentations. Keynote speakers will be Barbara J. Bates, R.N., B.S.N., surgical services manager at Scripps Encinitas Memorial Hospital in San Diego, Calif., and Susan Fuller, R.N., C.P.S.O., director of quality and patient safety at Piedmont... [more]

McAfee Offers Two-Day Workshop on the Urban Church

“Congregational Strategies for Urban Mission” is the theme of the April 1-2 workshop of the McAfee School of Theology. Designed for pastors, church staff and lay leaders interested in or working in urban ministry, the program will feature four plenary sessions as well as practicum ministry workshops. Dr. Robert M. Franklin, president of Morehouse College will give the keynote address at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 1. Prior to becoming the 10th president of Morehouse College, he was a Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory University and a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and... [more]

Peters Shares Anti-Satellite Technology Experience with Media

Randall Peters, Ph.D., chair of the Physics Department in the College of Liberal Arts, helped shed light on the quest by the United States Navy to shoot down an ailing spy satellite before the Navy destroyed the satellite on Feb. 21. He spent much of the day of the shootdown recounting for the media his experiences with a similar program for the United States Department of Defense in the 1980s. Peters was interviewed on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s statewide news radio program “Georgia Gazette,” and The Telegraph in Macon featured him on the front page in a story about the satellite takedown. He... [more]